The hit occurred with two seconds left. Doughty was whistled for a minor penalty, but the Blues were still irate at both the hit and the decision to only call a minor. “The end result is a two-minute penalty and a faceoff outside the zone,” Blues captain David Backes told the Belleville News-Democrat. “They might as well just run the clock on that. I guess if that’s the extent of it, that’s a good way to kill the clock is no-holds-barred at the end of the game.”

As for Doughty, he told Andy Strickland of Truehockey.com “I thought he turned at the last minute, I was just trying to finish my man. I saw him take a peek and maybe I should have done a shoulder hit as opposed to a cross-check but I had no intention of hurting him and I hope he’s okay.”